


Old Scars [KBKY]

by katerskater



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Early Relationship, Established Relationship, M/M, Other, it's not spicy but theres some tones to it so rated teen, loving touches, nothing explicit tho dont worry they dont fuck, this is kj's fault honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27730750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katerskater/pseuds/katerskater
Summary: Still in the early stages of their romantic relationship, Key is still unsure of what is acceptable for them to ask and what's not. Luckily for them, Kabu doesn't mind offering himself for them.
Relationships: KBKY, Kabu (Pokemon)/Original Character(s), Kabu (Pokemon)/Original Nonbinary Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi this is kj's fault they mentioned key running their hands over kabu's old burn scars and i got the brain rot so badly i had to write a oneshot so please enjoy <3

Key walked along the now empty hallways of the stadium – it was relatively empty at this hour, only coming across a couple of other workers who were finishing cleaning up around the lobby. There had been a couple of friendly matches that day, nothing that Kabu hadn’t handled before, and Key felt a small flutter of happiness inside of their chest seeing his victories today. He was certain to be in a good mood because of that, and they smiled to themself, feeling their face heat up at the thought.

They haven’t been together for long; Key had confessed their feelings for him just three months ago, when he surprised them by confessing right back, and the two entered a romantic relationship. Maybe it was weird to others, it was certainly still very new to Key – they were, after all, still working at the stadium, so in a way they were now dating their boss, but Key simply needed to remember that their relationship even before confessing had been based on mutual respect and understanding. Kabu never thought less of Key, and they had stopped thinking of him as someone who was on a whole different level, so the transition from simply being platonic to romantic partners had been smoother than they had expected.

Still, that didn’t stop Key from blushing uncontrollably whenever they would hold hands, or when Kabu would surprise them at work with a quick kiss on their cheek. They tried to keep the PDA to a minimum when the two of them were at work, Key didn’t want to distract Kabu from his matches, even if they were friendly – after the Champion’s Cup had there is a small break in between seasons, but the League still organized some battles between the gym leaders so the audience would enjoy themselves, too.

After walking for a couple of minutes more, Key found themself outside of Kabu’s personal gym in the stadium; they wanted to see him and say goodbye before they left for the day, still unsure of whether it was acceptable for them to ask him out for dinner or something else, as silly as it was to think. They were dating now, going out on dates would be expected, right? But Key’s frail Torchic heart still beat dangerously whenever they would think about it, so they decided to wait just a little more and build up their courage. Kabu was endlessly patient with them, and they felt so grateful for his always kind and caring displays of affection towards them, never going further than what Key felt like they could handle.

Gently, they knocked on the door twice, waiting expectantly for his response. Soon enough, they heard him say, “come in”, and so they did, opening the door just a smidge as they timidly peeked inside.

“Hey…” Key called out softly, the Cutiefly in their stomach fluttered about when Kabu looked up at them, his eyes softened the moment he saw them. “M-May I?” They asked, a little hesitant still.

But Kabu just smiled, that sweet, gentle smile that Key couldn’t believe was directed at them now. “Please, you don’t even need to ask, Key. Feel free to stop by whenever you like.”

He was reassuring them once again of their relationship, and Key’s heart did leaps inside of their chest as they nodded and went inside the room, gently closing the door behind them. They looked around a little – they’d only been inside a couple of times before, for a few seconds, so they hadn’t really gotten the chance to really appreciate Kabu’s personal gym. It was a nice spacious room, big enough for his equipment and machines, not that Key even recognized some of them or knew what they were for, they were well aware of their status as a studious couch potato.

“So, what did you need?” Kabu asked as he stretched his legs, and Key did their best not to stare too obviously at his strong muscles as they blushed.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing important, I’m all done so I wanted to say goodbye before I left,” Key explained, a sheepish smile on their face as they rubbed the back of their neck.

“If it’s about you, it’ll always be important for me, Key,” he replied, chuckling as he saw their face go an even deeper shade of red before he sat down on a nearby bench, wiping off the sweat on his forehead with his neck towel. “I’m almost done here myself, just a couple of more stretches before I head off to the showers.”

_ The showers… _ Key mentally snuffed away the mental images that their brain had produced the moment he said that – they weren’t trying to be a pervert, but keeping their thoughts clean was hard when he was there before them, sweaty and in his sports gear, his arm muscles moving as he stretched.

His arms, Key noticed, and stared a little without meaning to, they realized his arms were bare today. Aside from his iconic compression shirt, Kabu always wore long sleeves outside of his work uniform, opting to wear sweaters or coats that covered his arms. This time, Key noted, he chose to wear a no-sleeves compression shirt, the fabric hugged the outline of his abs tightly, but his core isn’t what Key focused on – their eyes traveled up his arms, all the way to his shoulders, scars etched along his skin, some of them more faded than others.

Key must have been staring for a while because Kabu asked, “Is something wrong?” They startled, of course, and shook their head, but Kabu was learning how to read them, how to figure out what was going on inside of their mind, and he raised an arm. “Do you wanna get a closer look?”

Their blush deepened, but Key nodded, taking a couple of hesitant steps before they came closer, their golden eyes trailed his scars, their lips pursed together in thought. They were so close, Kabu could feel the heat their skin gave off, and he glanced away, restraining his more explicit thoughts.

“They’re old burn scars,” Kabu said, his grey eyes looking up at them and meeting with their molten gold ones. He swallowed slightly before he began to say, “You can touch them, if you want.”

Key’s eyes widened ever so slightly in a way he thought was adorable, and they slowly brought a hand up – when their warm fingertips made contact with his skin he tensed up, but then relaxed just as quickly, their hand carefully trailing along his scars as they stared at them, their eyes half lidded as they looked down. After some seconds, Key brought their other hand up, and trailed along his forearm while their other hand continued to run over the scars on his biceps. They were silent as they did, Kabu barely holding his breath as he focused on the feeling of their warm palms on his skin.

Finally, Key looked up at him again, their face close, close enough for him to get a good look at the distinguishable beauty mark near their lips.

“Do they still hurt?” They asked, voice gentle, and he shook his head.

“No, they’re quite old so they don’t really hurt anymore,” Kabu said, still focused on their hands on his arm. “I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, and well, you can’t expect to handle Fire types and not get burned at first,” he chuckled slightly.

“Do you have more?” Key looked at him again, a curious look in their eyes, and Kabu nodded.

“I’ll show you.”

Having said that, he moved his hands to the end of his shirt, grabbing the hem before he started to pull it up, revealing his chest to them as he got the shirt over his head and gently tossed it aside. The way Key’s eyes widened at the sight, it made his blood rush dangerously, and even more so as he watched their gaze travel up his torso.

Kabu’s heart nearly stopped when Key brought a hand up and placed it on a scar on his chest, right over his pecs, and his breath caught in his throat. Like with the scars on his arms, Key’s fingertips began to trail along, softly, affectionately, and he hoped that the blood that rushed to his face wasn’t too obvious to them. Kabu had gotten burned by fire before, but it was nothing compared to the sensation that Key left on his skin – wherever they touched, it felt like their fingertips were blazing, every nerve in Kabu’s body acutely aware of where their hand rested, and he couldn’t help but melt into their touch, their warmth permeated through his whole body. Quite honestly he couldn’t remember the last time he had been intimately touched like this, and he hadn’t realized just how touch starved he was until this moment. 

“It’s funny…” Key started, a timid smile on their face as they looked at him again. “You’ve scolded me for being reckless and letting Litwick burn my fingers, and yet here you are, with a story of recklessness that surpasses my own.” The small giggle that left their mouth sounded like melodious music to Kabu’s ears, and he couldn’t stop himself.

His hands rested on their hips, his own palms as warm as theirs, and Key squeaked in surprised as he gently pulled them closer, looking up at them with warm eyes.

“Well…” He started, voice low and a little playful as he gave their sides a gentle squeeze. “Keep playing with fire, and you’re bound to get burned.”

He was willing to stop if Key rejected his advances, but to his surprise, they hummed against him, running their own hands up towards the back of his neck as they maintained eye contact with him, the spark in their eyes clearly visible.

They parted their lips, about to say something, but the door suddenly opened, and just like that, Key parted from him faster than a Vikavolt, face turned away as they were furiously blushing in embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry,” the worker said, awkwardly standing by the door. “I thought I could begin cleaning here – I’ll just come back later.” Having said that, they quickly backed out, closing the door again, as Kabu tried not to sigh in too much frustration. 

“Are you okay–” He had started to ask, but his voice cut off the moment he saw Key sprawled on the floor, covering their face with their hands as they whined, and that got a chuckle out of him.

“D-Don’t laugh, it’s not funny!” Key protested, quickly getting up as they playfully hit his arm with their hand, pouting as they did. “Th-That’s so embarrassing, oh Arceus, and I promised I wouldn’t act needy at work–”

Their rambling quickly stopped as Kabu cupped their face with his hands, and he leaned in closer, pressing a soft kiss to their forehead as they could feel their cheeks heat up by the small gesture. The look on their face when he pulled away was adorable, and he gave another small laugh.

“Better?” He asked, and Key glanced away, their face heated up even more.

“Y-Yeah…thank you…” They mumbled, still embarrassed, and sighed as they stepped away from him, but not before they caught his hand with their own and gave him a soft squeeze. “Sorry, that startled me…”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Kabu added, and brought their hand to his lips, gently kissing their knuckles before he looked up at them again. “I’ve kept you long enough, Manchego is going to start demanding dinner soon, isn’t he?”

Key gasped. “Oh, shoot! Yeah, you’re right, he’s gonna be  _ sooo _ mad if I’m late with his plate!” They started to walk towards the door, but surprised Kabu by suddenly rushing back to him and quickly pressed a kiss on his cheek. “OkaybyeIreallyamheadingoutnow GOODNIGHT!” They hurriedly exclaimed, and left just as quickly as Kabu could only stare at the door in amusement, chuckling once more.

“They’re getting faster at running away.”


	2. New Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL I GUESS I ADDED ANOTHER CHAPTER BECAUSE I NEEDED THIS

Things were quiet; it was just another calm night at Motostoke, another night where Kabu rested in his bed, content and at peace. Though for some reason, he woke in the middle of the night, and as he turned to look at his side he found his reason — Key, resting and unbothered.

_ Key. _ In  _ his _ bed.

It was hardly the first time that they had stayed over for the night; often, their dates would run late, and Kabu didn’t want them to walk back to Turffield on their own and so late at night. He was elated the first time Key had accepted his invitation to stay the night and rest, and his excitement to have them over never faltered the more times they stayed with him.

It wasn’t even that they were  _ doing _ anything, despite the fact that they’re both adults and have been dating for a while now — Arceus, his ears got hot with his sudden shift in thoughts, and he shook his head. No, it wasn’t about that at all. To him, all that mattered was being able to be by Key’s side for as long as he was able to. He wanted to be there for them at the break of dawn, and he wanted to end his day with them by his side, to feel their warmth besides him, to be able to see their brilliant smile every single day for the rest of his life.

Now, Key’s expression was serene and peaceful, deep in slumber as Kabu lovingly took in every single detail about them as they slept — their full lashes, resting on their soft cheeks as they sighed and snuggled closer. His eyes trailed down to their hands; his gaze rovered over their fingertips and down to their wrist. He hadn’t really noticed until now, but their fingertips were full of little burn scars, surely from all those times they tended to the Sizzlipede and Litwick at the stadium. He had scolded them, once, for not taking better care of themself, but he was grateful that all things considered, these little nicks were nothing too serious.

Kabu’s hand had begun to trail over the tips of their fingers, his own coarser ones tracing the edges of each small scar. Slowly, his hand traveled downwards, until he reached their wrist — he couldn’t help but wince as he inspected their scar again. Key had told him that it had been an accident with a Carkol they’d been trying to help. He’d seen their injury when it was still fresh, that fateful day where Key showed up at the stadium, as they declared that they wanted to heal Pokémon and take care of them.

Maybe that had been the day that Kabu fell in love? Nah, he chuckled to himself, that wasn’t it — he’d fallen for Key the more he got to know them, the more he got to unravel their complex personality and layers and layers of armor that protected their big, caring heart.

Careful not to wake them, Kabu brought their hand close to his lips, where he planted small, soft kisses upon their fingertips, trailing down towards their wrist, where he peppered their skin with more kisses of the same kind.

Key stirred, and to his surprise, he found their half-lidded golden eyes staring at him, a soft sigh leaving their lips as they said, “Can’t sleep?”

Kabu shook his head gently, still holding their hand. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine…” Key groaned lightly, scuttling closer to him, a small smile on their lips. “What’s up, old man?”

“Hmm, I should’ve never let you tease me like that. I miss when you would call me by my name, you know.”

“Oh? Like this, Mr. Kabu?” Key gently laughed, though still groggy. “What time is it even…?”

“Early, by both of our standards,” Kabu replied shortly, bringing their hand back to his lips.

“Don’t tell me you woke up  _ just _ to kiss my hand…” They laughed again, nudging against him. “You’re such a romantic.”

“There’s a lot I’m discovering about myself, you know,” Kabu murmured against their hand, planting another kiss there. They weren’t just words, though, it was true; it had been years since Kabu had last had any romantic feelings for anyone, let alone have a partner, so being with Key meant he was relearning a  _ lot  _ along the way, plus a couple of other things he didn’t know about himself, or just hadn’t thought about it. “You’re certain these don’t hurt?”

“They’re fine, Kabu. Don’t worry about me  _ too _ much!” Key smiled, in turn taking  _ his _ hand and bringing it up to their own lips. “It’s just tiny burns from the Sizzlipede and Litwick, really, they’re nothing compared to yours, you know.”

“Mine are old and weathered, though, it’s different.”

“And when did I say that I didn’t like them?” They murmured against him — they were growing bolder, more confident, as they scuttled forward a little more and planted small kisses on his neck. The way he shivered against their touch made them chuckle.

“Ah— It’s a little early, d-don’t you think?”

“You’re the one who woke me up because you couldn’t keep your hands off me,” Key replied, a small grin on their face. “Take responsibility, at least. I really wanna go back to sleep, you know.”

Unable to resist his loving partner, Kabu simply rumbled lowly, bringing their body closer to his as his arms surrounded them.

“Then I suppose I should tire you out, then.”


End file.
